Tuesday, February 14, 2017

The Most Beautiful Gift

This afternoon, I worked at one of the stores to help with the anticipated Valentine rush. Every Valentine's Day, there's always that one customer that sticks out in my memory and to celebrate this holiday of love, I'll tell you about this year's winner.

Much of the day, we'd helped men select gifts for their sweethearts. Most of the guys weren't in the store very long as men usually make up their minds about this type thing very quickly. Let's just say that there wasn't a whole lot of thought put into most of the selections.

Well, right about the time school was getting out, a young boy came in the store all by himself. That's a sight we don't usually see at the pharmacy gift shop. I guess that he was about 10 or 11. He came in with his hands in his pockets and looked a little intimidated about walking in alone. I mean, 10 or 11......that is the time of life when our confidence isn't exactly what you'd call soaring.

Well, Bonnie and I, being the southern women that we are, spoke warmly and tried to make him feel comfortable. I mean, if you work at a store, it becomes like your house. Like your home, you don't ever want anyone to walk in your store and feel ill at ease. We asked if we could help him with anything. "Oh, I'm just looking for a Valentine present for my Mom," he said shyly.

Well, I'll just stop right here because I'm a big ol' sucker for a boy who loves him mama. A real big sucker. He reminded me of my Carson and so he plucked at my heartstrings kind of like Jimmy Hendrix.

So, Bonnie and I pointed out some lower priced items in the store that we thought a mother would like. We didn't know what his budget was but assumed that a 10 year old boy wouldn't have a lot to work with on Valentine's Day. After showing him a few options, we backed off and let him look. He went back and forth across the store studying all the choices. I got busy with another customer and when I got done with her, I walked over to the counter where Bonnie was ringing up his selections and I asked if I could wrap the gifts for him. "How much does wrapping cost?" he asked. I assured him it was a complimentary service and he was very happy to hear that. He had two small candles for his mom and another item for his dad and Bonnie announced his total of $23 and some cents. He nervously shifted and rifled through his money and admitted that he only had $20 and that he'd put one of the candles back. I winked at Bonnie and told her I thought $20 was enough and, after a little polite protest from the boy, he finally conceded and I took the gifts away to the wrap room.

I picked out the fanciest wrapping paper and scattered handfuls of "complimentary" chocolates around the candles before closing the box. I would've given him the whole store if I thought I could've gotten it all in there. I finished the wrapping and passed the gifts off to Bonnie to give to him. I looked out from the back room because the boy had stolen my heart at that point. He kept looking down at the two gifts but especially the one for his mom.....the box wrapped in silver leopard print paper with a hot pink bow. You could tell that he was just beside himself with excitement. His face was beaming like he was holding the most valuable treasure in his hands and my heart melted right out onto the floor and there I stood in a puddle of heart juices.

They say love doesn't come from a store but, today, it did.

The boy didn't spend as much as most of the men who shopped with us today. The gift wasn't nearly as large or impressive as some of the others we sold. But, a son's sweet, innocent love for his mama embellished with silver leopard print paper and tied with a pink bow......well, it was the most beautiful gift we've wrapped in a long, long time.